Category Archives: home style

making lemonade

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My first thought after The Horrible Felting Incident, since I was convinced that the resulting pieces were completely useless, was to frame them and put them over my washing machine as a reminder. (A reminder not to do laundry of course, h/t Gail.) While I haven’t abandoned that concept entirely, my friend Miss Lulu had a better idea for one of the non-socks. I really should introduce y’all to her one of these days since I mention her so much! I’ll see if she’s game. :) But back to my lemons for now…

A brief backstory: For his job, my husband is in his car just about all day every day. Therefore, anything that can help make it more comfortable or efficient for him goes a long way! Al’s car has been the recipient for a couple of my crafty projects in the past. Necessity, invention, all that.

My friend’s awesome idea was to display it for him, à la rearview mirror dice. I took it a step further and decided to stuff it as a natural air freshener. Here’s how I did it.

mise en place

First, I wanted to felt it even more, so that the contents wouldn’t fall through anywhere, and also to shrink it a bit more. I really let that sucker have it this time. Continue reading →

label enabler

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Do you like to attach a name to stuff, or are you a non-committal type?  I’ve always been one to put a label on things — at least in the literal sense. ;-) I think it goes hand-in-hand with my lifelong adoration of all things office supplies.

I use a lot of glass containers. I know what they’re made from, and I can pronounce it. I can see how much is left of whatever is inside. I don’t worry about heating or freezing them. They can be used more times than your favorite excuse without staining or declining in quality — some of my favorite ones are older than I am. The only thing I have found less than desirable up to this point was their label-friendliness. Masking tape labels are kinda ugly. Paper sticker labels don’t hold up to washing and are sometimes difficult to remove. I was seeking a solution that was durable, flexible, and perhaps most importantly, cute. Continue reading →

practice techniques potholder

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If there is something that I sew as often as bags, it’s potholders. I love them, they make great gifts, and they manage to combine the best of my main creative loves: sewing and baking. (Though I have to say, blogging is a rising superstar in this category!) One of the things I love most about potholders is their immediate gratification — I can whip one out in no time. Usually. Somehow I managed to make this one last almost four months.

When I first saw this post, I immediately thought it was a great, simple project for me to practice appliqué, which I haven’t done much. I’m not sure if that’s what Ayumi had in mind with the design, Continue reading →

fabric covered box

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It seems that my blog is unintentionally becoming a love letter to Rashida Coleman-Hale. I didn’t set out to do that, but her projects and fabric are so appealing to me that it isn’t much of a surprise.

I ♥ Patchwork is full of squeal-worthy, gratifying projects. Many of them can be whipped up with materials you have on hand… this isn’t one of them. The fabric wasn’t an issue — Continue reading →

a place to lay their heads

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As I’m sure some others can relate, I never accomplish all of the handmade gifts that I plan for the holidays. Last year, one of the places where I ran out of time was for my twin nephews, who turned 18 months old on Christmas Day. (Very cool half-birthday!) I’m playing catch-up now. My sister requested some embroidered pillowcases for them since they are about to start using little pillows for the first time. I made the pillowcases using the “burrito” method to enclose the raw edges of the body/cuff/trim seam — there are numerous tutorials for this construction out there on the interwebs. I just adapted the normal sizing to fit the 14″x20″ pillows that they’ll use.

embroidered pillowcases

For the embroidery, I backstitched with DMC glow-in-the-dark floss, then wrapped it with 1 strand of a coordinating color for a little more pop, which is hard to see in the photo.

For the second pair, I used one of my current favorite fabrics, Washi Tape by Rashida Coleman-Hale. My sister is a longtime lover of happy tape so I knew this would be perfect… Continue reading →